


Unmoved, Cold, and to Temptation Slow

by Pearl09



Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Minor Original Character(s), Only One Bed, Pining, Sharing a Bed, Snow, Snowed In
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:01:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26205355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearl09/pseuds/Pearl09
Summary: Aziraphale is sent to a small town to help set up the church in the area. While there, he runs into Crowley, who stirs up more trouble than he thought he could. Now they have to weather out the cold night in an abandoned shack while the weather looks rather grim...
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 54
Collections: Choofe Your Faces





	Unmoved, Cold, and to Temptation Slow

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Phoenix_of_Athena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoenix_of_Athena/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Frost and Sunlight](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21627784) by [Phoenix_of_Athena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoenix_of_Athena/pseuds/Phoenix_of_Athena). 



> Title is from a Shakespeare sonnet! Based on chapter 12 of Phoenix_of_Athena's _Frost and Sunlight_.  
> Thanks for reading!!

Crowley had gotten them into this mess. Aziraphale was sure of it, even if he didn’t quite know the ‘how’ or the ‘why’. So much for a simple job. Oh, he didn’t want to know what Heaven would say to him about his abundance of miracles in such a small window. As he sat there, shivering in the dim glow of the fireplace, watching yet another snowbank start to pile up from a rather large hole in the wall, he thought back to what had started it all.

_A few weeks ago, England, 1326 A.D._

It was a simple task, really. Go into town, bless a couple of people, and then await further orders. Knowing Heaven, those orders may come in the next day, or might take a few years to arrive. Time flowed differently between the two, so all he could do was hope for the best. If Aziraphale was being honest, completely off the record, he could use a break. All these miracles, pushing humans in the right direction, trying to keep the opposition at bay – it wasn’t an easy job. Especially when he still couldn’t figure out the opposition’s favorite food…

As he walked into the small town, he couldn’t help but wonder why he wasn’t asked to do more. Goats ran wild in the streets, chased by the handful of children living within the town limits. Windows were boarded up instead of being replaced. Everything was in disrepair, and everyone here seemed down on their luck. Well, he ought to find that priest before something happened.

The church was, quite possibly, the building in the best shape. A brand new coat of paint covered its walls, and unbroken stained glass filled the windows. The roof still looked decrepit, and quite possibly falling in in a few spots, but it was understandable. After the church went abandoned for so long, the priest truly was doing God’s work by restoring it to its former beauty and bringing Her word back into the area. It made sense now why Aziraphale was sent there.

The doors swung open under the touch of his hand, and Aziraphale hurried in, shutting the door to stem off the winter breeze picking up outside. He rubbed his hands together to warm them up as he walked up the row of church pews, the spirit filling the air invigorating. By the time he reached the pulpit, a short, balding man hurried out of a door off to the side, surprised and shocked by the presence of Aziraphale.

“I haven’t seen you around before,” he said, approaching Aziraphale, “But no matter. Anyone is welcome here. I am Burrel. Have you come to receive God’s word? Hear His words? Let Him save you from your sins and wash away your worries?” 

“Er, no.” Aziraphale extended his hand to introduce himself. “My name is Aziraphale. I was sent to help you out in this – quaint town.” 

Burrel examined his hand with a frown before turning away and picking up a rag to wipe off the pews. “I told them I had no need for any help. That I was fit to do this job alone. And they sent you anyway. Sure, the place is a mess, but we don’t want to make the townsfolk feel overwhelmed. Too many missionaries, and they’ll turn away from us instead of letting us help.” 

Aziraphale retracted his hand and paused, unsure of what to say. “I’m not sure you understand, I was sent–” 

“Yeah, yeah, you were sent here, so now I have no choice but to deal with you. Well, don’t expect me to house you, took me long enough to figure that out myself.” There was a pregnant pause as Aziraphale waited for him to say more. Burrel turned around after realizing he hadn’t moved, eyes narrowing. “Well, what are you still doing here? Get going, or the only thing you’re going to manage around here is a horrible case of frostbite when the sun sets.” 

He nodded slowly before walking back out of the church, trying to pick up the mutterings Burrel was saying as he left. Stepping back out into the chilly air and adjusting his coat, he decided the best course of action to still fulfill his job was to help the man where he didn’t know it. A couple of noticeable blessings here and there, not big enough to cause a commotion but still something the people would notice, and maybe they would start showing up at the church to ask about it.

A smile appeared on his face as a handful of scarves appeared in his hand, and he passed them out among a couple of huddling children sitting against the corner of a building. “Take these, dears,” he said, helping some wrap the scarves around their necks, “and tell your parents they came from the church when they ask.” He stood back up, proud of his work, and watched as a few of them ran off, yelling joyfully.

“I thought I was the one who cared about the kids,” a familiar voice behind him drawled, and his spine stiffened.

“Crowley,” he greeted, turning around. “What are you doing here?” 

He was wearing his usual black attire, with his hands in his pockets, but he seemed to be wearing more layers of clothing than Aziraphale deemed necessary. “I could ask you the same. Small, backwater town full of goats. Definitely seems like the place for heaven to send an angel.” 

Aziraphale pursed his lips, but he had to agree to an extent. A goat bleated and ran between them, as if to prove a point. “The people rely on these goats, just as the goats rely on them. There’s nothing wrong with that.” 

“Mhmm.” He pulled a gloved hand from his pocket and inspected it. “Surely, then, you wouldn’t be here because of the church?” 

“What’s it mean to you?” 

“Downstairs sent me over because they had heard there was an attempt to try and convert the residents of this town. We’ve managed to get quite a few from here, see, so they don’t really want to lose this spot any time soon.” 

“So you’re the reason Burrel was cross with me!” he said, crossing his arms. “Don’t you think messing with a priest is a little too much for someone of your standard?” 

“I didn’t do anything to him! He was already like that when I arrived in town. Figured if he continued like that, he wouldn’t attract anyone to the church, no matter how hard he tried. But, I have to stay here to keep appearances. When I saw you enter town earlier, I thought I’d come out and see how you are. Haven’t seen each other in a while.” 

“Right. So even for something like this, we’re just going to balance each other out.” He sighed. “So much for helping the people here out, then.” 

A thin smile formed on Crowley’s face as he gestured with his head. “Why don’t you come back to mine? Have some drinks, I think there’s a few biscuit tins laying around… We can get out of this cold, and it will give me an excuse to not just sleep for the next century.” 

“I suppose I could stay for a few hours…” He pretended to think about it, to not give in right away, but after meeting Burrel and learning that anything he did wouldn’t really have an effect, a drink with someone he knew and someone who understood him didn’t sound too bad. He wondered how much he would have to protest to let Crowley share his house while they were both stuck together…

“Come on, angel,” Crowley said, already sauntering away, scaring goats from his path. 

Aziraphale hurried after, a small, content smile on his face.

~~~

The days had passed with no luck on either of their sides, not that they were expecting there to be. Aziraphale was thinking of writing up the paperwork already to send it back and get out of there, just so he could have something else to do. Heaven never checked over the paperwork anyway, they just wanted to see that he turned it in. Or, if they did check it, they always believed his lies. No, not lies. Lies were something demons did. More like white lies. They were necessary to show he did, in fact, do what they wanted him to, he was just – thwarted. Occasionally, on the larger jobs, he would admit that Crowley had gotten in his way. But that was only because the results would obviously be the same.

He was passing out hot drinks among the people in the streets when things started to go south. Like, into the tropics, no need for their heavy coats anymore south. When Crowley was around, there was always a chance he would cause mischief. Doubly so if he found himself bored.

“Angel!” Crowley yelped as he ran around the corner, hurrying to Aziraphale’s side. “It was nice seeing you,” he said, panting, “but I think it’s about time I leave.” 

“Crowley? What happened?” 

“No – nothing happened, I don’t know what you mean. We never stay in one place for too long, remember?” 

“Mhmm. And that’s why you ran over here, out of breath?” 

Before he could protest, a man down the road shouted, “There!” Crowley’s eyes grew wide, and he quickly spun around and started running again.

Aziraphale watched him, part confused and concerned, before he turned to address the angry mob running up the street. He could tell they were really mad for some reason – call it an absence of love in the air. It took him a moment to decide what to do, but he turned and followed Crowley, intent on finding out what he did to band the town together in a way Aziraphale had never seen before.

He caught up with him down the road, well past the town limits. “Crowley!” he yelled, causing the man to turn around and slow. Once they were facing each other, they paused to let Aziraphale catch his breath. “What on earth happened?” he finally managed, placing his arms on his hips to try and look cross.

“Nothing!”

“Crowley!”

“Urgh, fine! There was a goat trying to climb me. He didn’t scare off easy like the others. When I pushed it away to make it stop, they got all cross! I didn’t know they were so particular about all of their goats!” 

“You mean to say,” he said, voice low, “you ran us out of town because of a goat?” 

“What would you have done! Let the goat keep trying to stand on your head, getting its dirty hoof prints all over your clothes? Yeah, I didn’t think so. Besides, you were the one who followed me out here.” 

He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily. “They might still have come for me, Crowley, since you hid behind me. They might have thought I was one of your – conspirators. The damage is done, there is no use arguing right now. There is a more important matter at hand, but believe me, this isn’t the last of this conversation.” 

“What’s more important right now? Actually, why is that even important to begin with?” 

“The sun is going down, and it’s the middle of the winter. And you’re a _snake_ , Crowley. Or have you forgotten? In the middle of the night you’d freeze to death out here! We need to find shelter, and there are no other towns nearby that we could reach before dusk. Unless you’d rather fill out the paperwork to get another corporation, of course.” 

He shivered at the thought. “No, I don’t think I’m really up for that. You know how paperwork is, and the processing times. It would be ages before I would see the light of day again. And Hastur’s stench isn’t something you want to be around for long..” He hummed thoughtfully before turning on his heel. “This way, angel. I think there’s an abandoned house or two we can borrow for the night before we set on our merry way.” 

“How can you be so sure?” Aziraphale asked, hesitantly trailing behind him. 

“I heard some of the townsfolk talking about abandoned houses that they moved from. Wanted to be closer to everyone and stay in the loop or something. That or they just couldn’t make a living out here. Either way, there’s no reason they wouldn’t mind us borrowing it for _one_ night. Especially if we find the door unlocked, because then it’s just begging for someone to enter.” 

“Well, when you put it that way… You have to enter first, though.” 

Crowley rolled his eyes. “Always the noble one, eh? Too high and mighty to use something of someone else’s for your own survival.” 

“Hmph.”

Silence fell between them as Crowley led them off of the worn dirt road and into the brambles and trees, searching for this house that should be nearby. They spent so long Aziraphale had started debating what miracle he could use to keep them safe but still go unnoticed by the others, and what excuse he could give to them for it if they did. Finally, when it seemed there would be no end to their search, a small cabin came into view through the trees, and Crowley strode to it with renewed vigor.

“This is where you intend to spend the night?” Aziraphale asked, eyebrow arched as he eyed a hole in the wall roughly the size of his fist.

“It’s a little more – rundown than I had imagined, but a roof is a roof at this point. If we just bundle up with whatever we can find left in the house, then we can get going to… somewhere that’s not here in the morning.” 

Kicking the door in, Crowley whistled as he entered the house, Aziraphale close behind. Everything was covered in dust – the tables, the chairs, they even left footprints on the floor in dust. Everything was in various states of disrepair as well. The hole Aziraphale was looking at wasn’t the only one leading out into the elements, and various others littered the inside walls. It looked like the roof was caving in on one side, too.

Aziraphale tutted as he looked around. “Now this won’t do.” With a snap, the dust vanished, leaving behind polished wood floors and chairs. If he had no choice but to stay, he wouldn’t let dust ruin his perfectly good clothes.

“Make yourself comfortable there, angel,” Crowley said, pulling open a door and peeking in. “I’m going to find a bed.” 

“To do what?”

“Sleep? What else do you do in a bed?” 

A few things came to Aziraphale’s mind, but he dismissed them immediately. “You do know that in these corporations, we don’t technically need sleep, right?” 

“Of course. But that doesn’t mean you can’t. You should try it some time, it’s actually quite nice. You can just turn your brain off and no one can bother you for as long as you want.” 

“It’s hardly advisable to sleep for longer than a night, my dear. Especially when we never know when we might hear from our superiors.” 

He waved a vague hand through the air. “Eh, fuck ’em. If I don’t answer, they usually think it means I’m off doing something good. Or rather, bad. Er, you know what I mean. They might congratulate me on something the humans thought up themselves.” 

Aziraphale paused. “They wouldn’t really do that, would they?” 

“I don’t know about your lot, but I definitely wouldn’t put it past mine.” He pushed the next door wide open after peering in, letting Aziraphale catch a glimpse of the threadbare bed before Crowley blocked it from his vision. “Goodnight, angel. If I’m not up by midday… I don’t know, what is it the humans do? Throw a bucket of something on me?” 

He wasn’t given the option to answer before Crowley shut the thin door between them. While his voice absolutely could carry through the walls, it was clear that Crowley had shut him out, so he didn’t make an attempt. Instead, he moved to the fireplace, one of the few places in the house that still seemed intact. The sturdy brick was rough under his fingers as he leaned his hand against them to stabilize his crouch. There wasn’t much left in the hearth, just the afterthought of a once roaring fire from the soot lining the inside. 

A pile of old, unused logs made themselves known next to him after a few moments, and as the light was sucked out of the room, giving way to the unforgiving chill of the night, he pulled a few from the top and rested them on the hearth. With a blink, a spark ignited the logs, bringing life to the house once more as a crackling flame sprang up. He willed it to stay low, so the logs wouldn’t burn too fast, but still large enough to give off the heat needed to last the night. 

The flickering light danced off his face and cast creeping shadows around the room, shadows that grew increasingly terrifying as he waited around for the night to pass. They taunted him out the corner of his eyes, making him see things when he knew there was nothing there. Any self respecting demon would stay away from another while working, and they would never sneak up on an angel for fear of a smiting. So he could cross them out, even if the shadowy figures looked eerily similar to a silhouette. That being said, he would never rule Gabriel or any other angel out of the equation, though for them to interrupt him during an assignment was highly unprofessional and almost entirely out of the question. 

After being left alone with his meandering, imaginative thoughts and the figurative demons around him for too long, he rose from the hard seat, joints aching and joints cracking in ways they shouldn’t be for an angel. Ever so slowly, he turned the doorknob and creaked the door open, peeking in and spotting Crowley sprawled across the bed, lightly snoring. There was a blanket haphazardly on him, with his leg sticking out at an awkward angle, so Aziraphale took it upon himself to carefully cover him again. 

The wind howled outside and wormed its way through the holes in the walls, causing Aziraphale to shiver. As he stood over Crowley, he thought about how comfortable and warm he looked, and glanced at the space on the other side of the bed, where he could easily fit…

He chased the thought from his mind as quickly as God had chased Adam and Eve out of the garden when She discovered they had eaten the apple. To avoid it reappearing, he retreated back to the fire, basking in its warmth but still feeling an unsettling cold deep in his bones. The hard chair was cruel and unforgiving under him as he settled back into it, wishing he could speed up time so the night would end.

~~~

Crowley woke with a start, sputtering as the chill water Aziraphale had just dumped onto him was quickly soaked up by his clothes. “What the–” 

“It’s time to wake up,” Aziraphale said tersely, setting the bucket down. He passed a pile of snow on the floor as he crossed to the door. “Not that we can go anywhere, anyway.” 

He was followed out not long after. Crowley had wrapped himself in a blanket like some sort of demon burrito. “Water? Really, angel? In _this_ weather?”

“I would have tossed hot coals, but we should conserve our fuel.” He gestured to the back of the house, where the roof had caved in, and the growing pile of snow burying half of the cabinets. “In case you hadn’t noticed, a blizzard started overnight. You can’t see anything out of the window. Not even the trees nearby. It’s too dangerous out there; we’ll have to wait it out.” 

Crowley glanced around at the holes in the walls, a thick white wall on the other side of them and small piles of snow below them. “Why did you even wake me up, then?” he grumbled. “I could’ve slept until we could leave again.” 

“Would you rather freeze? If I spend too many miracles here, then heaven is going to notice. I already extended the life of our dwindling pile of logs for the fire, but now with the snow–” he shivered “-it’s not nearly enough. You need to help if we’re going to get through this together.” He could tell he had hit a nerve there – the shift in Crowley’s demeanor could have been two things. He might have finally realized just how dire of a situation they are in. If they are caught, in the middle of a snowstorm, _together_ … While Aziraphale doesn’t mind a few extra hours - or days - he knows Gabriel would have serious words for him. More than likely, though, Crowley finally realized just how cold it is. The house didn’t have insulation, or even solid walls, and he inched closer to the fire.

“What needs to be done?” He asked. 

Though his eyes couldn’t be seen from behind his sunglasses, the fire perfectly mirrored in the reflection of each lens, Aziraphale could tell he was concerned in his own way, and was finally ready to take things seriously. He sighed. “Let’s figure it out together.” 

~~~

They didn’t use any miracles on each other. That was the one rule. If their respective head offices happened to look into the matter further, they could easily say they were the only person in the building, and that what they had done was all to make sure they didn’t have to go through the process of getting another corporation. No one ever wanted to have to go through extra, unnecessary paperwork, so they would hopefully understand.

Even with the precautions they had set up, and the miracles they had stretched thin to help them survive, as night set again and the blizzard hadn’t let up yet, they found themselves huddled on the ground next to the fire. Crowley huddled under the blanket still, arms wrapped around his legs. Aziraphale wasn’t quite as cold, but he still made an attempt to absorb as much heat as possible.

“You know, angel…” Crowley started, shuffling closer to the fire, so his feet peeked out from under the blanket, “There’s this thing the humans say.” 

“Hmmm?”

“They think that… huddling close together makes you warmer.” 

Aziraphale fiddled with the end of his sleeve. “How so?” 

“I dunno. The body heat, I think. These things supposedly generate heat, and if you stay closer to each other… you can share it.” 

“You really think it works?” 

With a vague shrug, he opened the blanket wrapped around him as an invitation, and, what else was Aziraphale to do? Turn him down? It was just a survival tactic. There was nothing more to it. Crowley was only offering so that neither of them would discorporate.

He slid across the floor and right next to Crowley, their sides pressing into each other. Crowley’s arm wound around his far shoulder, passing the blanket over to Aziraphale. As it pressed into his back, Aziraphale almost wanted to stop him, to keep his arm there, slung around his shoulder. But the moment was over before he could even think about gaining the courage to speak out, and his arm was gone. To hide his disappointment, Aziraphale reached up and pulled the edge of the blanket over him as far as he could without disrupting Crowley’s end. They were still pressed together, though, bringing a flush and heat to his cheeks that he hadn’t felt previously.

“I think you were right, dear,” Aziraphale said with a small chuckle, “I think I do feel warmer. Though, it could be on account of the blanket.” 

“Of course,” he mumbled. “The blanket.” 

“Mhmm.”

The crackling fire and the howling wind competed with each other to fill their silence.

~~~

“I think you should consider sleeping again, dear,” Aziraphale sighed as Crowley started again, his head jerking back off of Aziraphale’s shoulder. “You keep dozing off.” 

“Hngk. I’m – fine. Storm should pass soon. Then – then I’ll be ready to leave this forsaken house..” 

He pursed his lips and looked Crowley up and down, noticing the tiny tremors that wracked his body as he attempted to hide his shivering from Aziraphale. Tutting, Aziraphale extracted himself from the warm embrace of the blanket to throw another log onto the flames. Instead of sitting down, however, he scooped Crowley up quickly before he could protest, watching him grow red as he carried him to the bedroom. There were half-hearted protests and grumbles from him, but ultimately, when finally gently set back on the bed, he gave in and curled up under the blanket.

Once again, Aziraphale paused, looking at all the empty space the bed still offered. The thought of having to go back out to sit on the rough, cold stone in front of the fire to keep warm, alone… it wasn’t very pleasant. But he didn’t just want to assume, either. He wanted to give Crowley his space. 

Before he could take more than a step to leave, the bundle of blankets grumbled and started to shift, and before he knew it, Crowley pulled the edge of the blanket back and gestured to the open side of the bed.

Knowing there would be no better invitation, and, quite possibly, no other chance to have a moment like this, he hesitantly toed his shoes off ang gave into the temptation. As soon as he finished climbing into the bed and settled down, Crowley covered him in the blanket, encasing him once more in it’s warmth.

Aziraphale laid flat on his back, stiff as a board, slowly coming to regret his acceptance. He felt awkward laying in the same bed, just a hair’s width away from the person who was supposed to be his mortal enemy. And yet his instinct was to get even closer, to pull him close and to hold him there for a long while. Maybe even run his fingers through that bright red hair, that was something he had always wanted to do since he first set eyes on him. 

His thoughts silenced themselves when Crowley rolled over and threw himself over Aziraphale, limbs tangling with limbs as his head rested just over Aziraphale’s heart.

With a shaky breath, Aziraphale let his restraints go, reaching up and gently touching the top of Crowley’s head. When he heard and felt no protest, he slowly brushed through the locks, gently untangling the knots he ran across in his soft hair. Crowley hummed against his chest, content, and buried further into him.

“I’ll wake you up when the storm is over, dear,” he muttered gently, eyeing the hole he could see out of. For once, he wished the storm would last just a little longer instead of ending early. 

Leaning up some, he pressed a light, chaste kiss against Crowley’s hairline. “Sleep well, my dear.” 


End file.
